Dinner at Merino Pub

Friday night, our usual fish and chips night, was a dud. There is no fish and chip shop in town, so we decided to go out to the Merino pub. Michael's aunt and uncle used to live in Merino and run the bakery, many years ago, so he likes the place.

6.30 saw us all in the Renault and zipping along the road to Merino. Lovely views! We were doing just fine until we got about 5kms from the town. Coming down a dip we came across a bit of a bingle. The ute's bullbar was fine but the front bonnet was crumpled and at least 30cm shorter then it should be. The corolla looked fine, but as it was sitting across the road, it must have been involved somehow. Two guys were looking under the bonnet of the corolla and wandering around the ute, one woman was helping an older woman with a cut on the side of her face. Michael got out to offer assistance.

Turns out the corolla (owned and driven by a bowls lady) decided to do a u-turn on a blind corner. Mr Ute, trundling along at the speed limit of 100, came over the rise and couldn't do anything to avoid it. He hit the rear drivers side of the car (could see all the damage when we drove past) and spun the corolla 180. Ute definitely a write off. As we couldn't offer any assistance, we continued to the pub.

Mr Ute came in half an hour later. He was not real happy about his loss of car. The cops have told him that he is totally in the clear, she was an idiot!! She's lucky she got off with only a superficial facial cut.

The meal was delicious. Only the basic choices available, steak, chicken parm/kiev, fish platter and mixed grill but they were well done and the salad was fresh. Michael's friend Dani joined us and then her son John (in Caitlin's year) also joined in. Mim was in seventh heaven, she adores John.

Mim kept disappearing from the table and going behind the bar to talk to Mick, the owner. She then played hide and seek with Caity and John.

A funny incident occured during dessert. Dani wanted to ask the waitress Ellen for a smaller spoon for Mim to eat her huge bowl of icecream (which she couldn't finish). She called out "Ellen", so Mim turned around and screamed at the top of her voice "Ellen!" All the guys at the bar turned and looked at her, and Ellen started laughing (she's got younger siblings).

The trip home was fun, driving in pitch black along a winding country road. We didn't come across another car, but did see a rabbit on the side of the road. (Rhett, if you are reading this, this would be a perfect road for you on your bike.)